1969 Chambertin

Medium brick-red with a healthy rim. Some very ripe red and black fruit aromas are joined by coffee, mocha and a hint of dried leaves, along with some intrusive peppery herbs. Quite fat and sweet in the mouth, with a ripe dark plum flavor coming across as distinctly confectionary; I would have guessed this wine was carrying some residual sugar. At once voluptuous and a bit rustic, this wine finishes with some alcoholic heat and aggressiveness. This big boy weighed in at 14.8% alcohol, said Jean-Louis Trapet. It was probably a head-spinner during its first 40 years but today it lacks tension, even if it's not exactly falling off a cliff.